This invention relates to refuse or garbage storage and discharge apparatus, for example to such apparatus adapted to be mounted on a self propelled road vehicle chassis to form a mobile rear discharge refuse collecting vehicle of the kind used for door-to-door collection of refuse from dustbins.
More specifically, the invention relates to refuse storage and discharge apparatus having a refuse container, and a refuse pushing member mounted in the container for movement lengthwise of the container by means of a hydraulic refuse pushing ram to discharge refuse when desired.
A more specific example of a vehicle in which such refuse storage and discharge apparatus could be incorporated is a self-propelled non-articulated truck constructed for rear loading of refuse into a refuse container through a tailgate having a hydraulically operated packing mechanism to pack the refuse into the container. The tailgate is pivotally mounted on the refuse container and can be raised by hydraulic lift rams when desired, to allow discharge of refuse.
A problem which has arisen in the design of such refuse storage and discharge apparatus lies in the arrangement of the hydraulic refuse pushing ram in relation to the refuse pushing member, and the structure provided to resist the large reaction thrust of the ram when it is extended and caused to eject a large mass of compacted refuse from within the container.
Prior proposals on the subject in most cases have the hydraulic ram acting between a front end wall of the refuse container and the refuse pushing member. Where a horizontal ram has been proposed it has usually been necessary, on account of the length of the ram, for the ram to protrude through the refuse pushing member into the refuse containing part of the container on the rear side of the refuse pushing member. This, in turn, has required the provision of a nose cone to shield the rear end of the ram and its connection to the refuse pushing member. The nose cone is itself undesirable because it changes the profile of the refuse pushing member and refuse sometimes becomes lodged on it and is not discharged when the refuse pushing ram is fully-extended--which can have safety implications if operators are tempted to clear away such lodged material under a raised tailgate. To avoid the provision of a nose cone it has been proposed to mount the hydraulic refuse pushing ram in a non horizontal attitude so as to accommodate the length of the ram. However, although this arrangement is preferable in that it allows the provision of an efficient profile on the refuse pushing member, there has remained the problem of providing structure at the non-discharge end of the refuse container strong enough to withstand the large reaction thrust generated by the refuse pushing ram and applied at a position well above the container floor. This problem has been met by providing an immensely strong reinforced wall at the non-discharge end of the container, or by providing one or more heavy bridging beams extending vertically or horizontally between the side walls or between the top and bottom walls of the container and connecting the ram directly to these beams. The refuse container has thus become undesirably heavy and expensive.
In addition, the reinforced container wall or bridging beams prevent complete return movement of the refuse pushing member to the non discharge end of the container, thereby reducing significantly the effective volume of the refuse container. This has serious implications for vehicle payload in relation to the use of the apparatus on a road vehicle chassis of a given length.
A general objective of the present invention is to provide refuse storage and discharge apparatus having an improved structure for the transmission of forces arising from actuation of a refuse pushing ram to move a refuse pushing member lengthwise of a refuse container to discharge refuse. More specific objects include the provision of a load carrying structure for said forces outside the refuse container whereby forces applied to the container are minimized and whereby return movement of the material pushing member to the non discharge end of the container is not obstructed so as to maximize the refuse carrying capacity of the apparatus for a given container length, without resorting to the use of a complex shape for the refuse pushing member.